McDaniel, the only announced candidate for governor in 2014, endorsed Beebe’s support for the expansion. Beebe last week said that such a move would require support from the state Legislature.

“I think the governor’s statements make sense and that if the federal law stands to benefit the citizens of Arkansas, then we need to work to implement it in a way that benefits us and is fiscally sound,” McDaniel told reporters after speaking at the Political Animals Club, which meets regularly to hear from elected officials and other political figures. “At least so far, the numbers that have been put forth show that it can save money.”

The U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld the health care law, but justices said the federal government could not take away states’ existing federal Medicaid dollars if states refused to widen eligibility. Under the law, the federal government agreed to pay the full tab for the Medicaid expansion when it begins in 2014.

Beebe backed the expansion after federal officials assured him the state could back out later if it faced a financial crunch.

The Arkansas Department of Human Services estimates that the expansion would save the state $372 million over the next several years. The agency’s estimates factor in savings they say would result from the federal health care law.

McDaniel said he hoped the expansion would get a fair hearing in the Legislature. Republicans, who believe they can win control of the state House and Senate in November, have generally opposed the expansion.

“What I hope is that the Legislature looks at it in those terms, in terms of what do we get, what’s our risk, how much might it cost later as compared to a purely partisan effort of blocking any discussion of it just on the basis of partisan politics,” he said. “If the discussion is dollars and cents and what’s right and wrong, the Legislature will make the right decision. If it’s purely based on an unwillingness to hear the facts, no matter which side you’re on, then they won’t.”

McDaniel touted his achievements as the state’s top attorney during his speech to the club.

During the speech, McDaniel said he hoped his office’s move to schedule a hearing on ending desegregation payments to three Little Rock-area school districts could prompt new settlement talks with the schools on phasing out the money. Arkansas is required by a 1989 settlement to fund magnet schools, transfers between districts and other programs to support desegregation and keep a racial balance in the three school districts. Those costs add up to about $70 million a year.

“I kind of expected that to reignite some interest in settlement,” McDaniel said. “That really hasn’t happened, but I’m hoping it will. It’s the right thing to do.”